Editor and Proofreader: Rinrin

The closed and quiet holiday was finally broken on the last day by two significant news events.

It was the afternoon, and Lin Wu, who was still fast asleep, was directly woken up by his three roommates, who shouted his name and slapped his face, making Lin Wu think he was having a nightmare.

—

The two news reports almost popped up simultaneously, with less than a minute between them.

**News 1**

**100% Proportion of Wild Awakening Individuals?!**

A reporter (who is an awakened individual) conducted random street interviews in several countries to understand the feelings and changes in life of those who have not awakened in the current social environment. Surprisingly, not a single unawakened individual was selected for the interview.

[Video]

“Currently, due to a lack of rapid testing methods, the exact number of awakened individuals in various countries remains unknown. This station cannot guarantee that every interviewee is expressing their true feelings, but this interview still provides us with a clearer understanding of the proportion of awakened individuals in the population.”

**News 2**

**Significant Progress in Wild Awakening Research!**

“Scientists detected a rare substance in preserved samples of fog gas, confirming that this substance is a direct cause of wild awakening.

Laboratory personnel stated that this substance should not exist in the air, but after the fog, it has become widespread in the atmosphere—a reality that all of humanity must now face.

The cause of the fog remains a mystery, and research on closing the awakening gene has made no progress. Scientists are calling for awakened individuals to remain calm, as the body has self-regulatory abilities and will slowly accept and adapt to the new changes.”

After watching the news, Lin Wu felt surprisingly calm.

Perhaps it was because he had been shocked too many times in recent days, or maybe he sensed that many things were subtly heading in this direction.

But to say there were no fluctuations at all would be a lie.

This wild awakening came too suddenly and too bizarrely. During his recent night outings, Lin Wu often felt a dreamlike quality as he wandered through the corridors, as if the wild awakening were a limited-time dream that would quietly dissipate like the night owls at sunrise.

Now, that dream was over.

And he realized that the dream was reality.

“A biologist proposed that this may be an unprecedented leap in human evolution, and all of humanity should embrace the wild awakening and welcome a brand-new future…”

Ren Feiyu continued to play the video from the news on his phone, the sound filling the entire 333 dorm.

Xia Yang, already feeling troubled, swung his long legs over the railing and jumped down from the upper bunk, heading straight for Ren Feiyu: “What do the experts say? Let me see; I must admire this blindly optimistic face—”

His ladder to the bunk had long become obsolete and was now gathering dust.

The continuous stream of news set the internet ablaze again; some feared a chaotic world, while others eagerly anticipated a new future. Worry, excitement, panic, and restlessness… various emotions intertwined, creating an unstable atmosphere that spread from the online world to reality.

During the nighttime, even the corridors felt a bit quieter.

Many students didn’t come out; those who did were speaking in hushed tones, lacking the joy of the previous days.

Of course, there were exceptions.

Wang Ye was still engrossed in his mobile games as usual.

Yesterday it was “Miss Squirrel’s Tea Party,” and today it was “Detective Mr. Deer’s Mystery Theater.”

“Where do you find these games?” In just a few days, Lin Wu felt like he had been opened to a whole new world.

Wang Ye was in the most crucial stage of deduction, completely ignoring Lin Wu.

Lin Wu didn’t take it to heart or had already gotten used to it.

In the past few nights, he had spent time with Wang Ye and Yuan Sixue to pass the midnight hours; they might not have deep feelings for each other, but they had become familiar. Just yesterday, at Yuan Sixue’s suggestion, the three of them had added each other on WeChat.

After observing for several days, Lin Wu had basically figured out Wang Ye.

This guy had a bad temper, was impatient, and wanted to kick someone at the slightest disagreement, but conversely, he was also quite straightforward—he said what he thought and was rather frank.

“The culprit is a tiger.” As the deduction time on the screen was about to run out, Lin Wu kindly offered a hint.

Wang Ye finally glanced at him but quickly looked back down at the game: “Impossible.”

Lin Wu pressed, “Why is it impossible?”

Wang Ye pondered for two seconds: “The culprit should be a rabbit.”

Lin Wu: “…”

Deduction time was up.

Wang Ye chose the rabbit.

Deduction failed, and Mr. Deer walked into the distance, his figure forlorn.

Lin Wu felt a bit heartbroken: “Don’t torture yourself with deduction games; running a restaurant or hosting tea parties would be much better.”

Wang Ye looked up again, this time seriously studying Lin Wu: “Why is it a tiger?”

Lin Wu sighed: “You need to reason it out; you have to analyze the logic. According to the designer’s thinking, he definitely wants to throw out some smokescreens to confuse people, making those the perfect cover for the real culprit…”

After explaining for two minutes, Lin Wu felt he had covered it thoroughly and eagerly asked Wang Ye, “Got it?”

Wang Ye remained silent for a moment: “I’ll stick to the tea party.”

Lin Wu: “…”

You can’t carve a rotten piece of wood!

But speaking of which, he was actually a bit interested in that deduction game; having watched it for a while was quite immersive.

“Where’s Yuan Sixue?” After this immersion, Lin Wu suddenly realized that they seemed to be missing a classmate tonight.

“He hasn’t come out.” Wang Ye put away his phone, relaxing his overworked deduction brain.

“Is he staying in the dorm?” Lin Wu asked with concern, “Is he feeling unwell?”

“His health is fine,” Wang Ye said dismissively, quoting Yuan Sixue’s words directly, “He said he felt down after watching the news and wanted to lie in bed and think about his future.”

Even the usually optimistic Yuan Sixue felt too gloomy to move.

Lin Wu’s slightly eased emotions began to sink again.

This unsettling feeling couldn’t simply be attributed to fear; it was more a sense of confusion about the path ahead.

Under the dim light of the corridor, Lin Wu looked around, realizing this confusion seemed to appear on every student’s face.

—

Except for the person in front of him.

“Wang Ye,” Lin Wu had wanted to ask earlier, “why do you seem not worried at all?”

Wang Ye looked puzzled: “Worried about what?”

“About the future,” Lin Wu said. “We’ve all awakened now. Society and life might change drastically; aren’t you worried?”

Wang Ye countered, “If I worry, will that stop everything from changing?”

Lin Wu replied, “But we can’t just act like nothing has happened, right?”

“What’s coming can’t be stopped,” Wang Ye said nonchalantly. “But as long as you’re strong enough, no one can take you down.”

“…” Lin Wu prided himself on having good mental fortitude; he had even been encouraging Ren Feiyu in the dorm. However, at this moment, he truly felt that there were always others who were stronger and that there were always levels above levels.

His life philosophy was—what comes, I will face; difficulties, I will overcome; life, I will confront.

But Wang Ye’s philosophy was—screw it, love who you want.

With the end of the eleven-day holiday, a light rain and a sudden drop in temperature marked the beginning of autumn.

The school finally lifted some restrictions, allowing students to go out, but entry and exit had to be registered, stating their whereabouts, and everyone had to return to school by five o’clock. Each college would conduct a roll call every night, and staying out overnight was absolutely forbidden.

In contrast to the unblocking of the school gates, internal arrangements were significantly simplified and compressed. Physical education classes and all student activities were suspended, meaning that aside from classes, there were no other activities. Meanwhile, many major courses had been consolidated to the time slot of 16:30 to 20:30, which was a temporary compromise to balance the different schedules of day and night.

The school held another video conference, still the same old topics, urging students to adapt to the changes in their studies and bodies, but with even more emphasis than before that society should operate normally, and the wild awakening should not and would not disrupt our studies and lives.

But is everything really as normal as it seems?

On the first weekend of the limited lifting of restrictions on campus, Li Junchi helped a senior queue at a coffee shop for a seasonal limited cup. On the way back, his phone was snatched.

The dorm 333 only learned of this later in the evening, when Li Junchi had already returned from the police station after giving his statement.

“What era are we in that people still steal phones?” Li Junchi was speechless. “With no fingerprints to unlock, no password to transfer money, how much can a second-hand phone even be worth? It would be better to steal my limited cup instead.”

“Didn’t the police check the surveillance footage?” Lin Wu listened to Li Junchi’s rant but didn’t understand this point, “They recorded it but still couldn’t identify the suspect?”

“Bro, you have no idea how fast that guy ran. He zipped past me, and I thought it was just me not seeing clearly. Turns out, the surveillance only caught a blur,” Li Junchi sighed deeply before adding, “The police said they could recover it with technology, but we have to wait.”

“Did you report the loss of your bank card?” Xia Yang interjected, “And check your Huabei^[1]chinese app, Yuerbao^[2]chinese app, WeChat Wallet, Jingdong BaiTiao^[3]chinese app, and Meituan Borrowing? Don’t think that just because your phone needs fingerprint payment and passwords, you’re completely safe. Thieves don’t go empty-handed; you know that. If they dare to steal, they must have a backup plan!”

“Don’t worry,” Li Junchi said. “I’ve never overspent; those borrowing apps weren’t even activated. I don’t have a single cent in Yuerbao or WeChat Wallet; I just link everything directly to my bank card, and now that bank card is also reported lost.”

Lin Wu and Xia Yang: “…”

When it comes to financial security, it’s no surprise that Li Junchi is the best money-maker and financial whiz in dorm 333.

“But the phone was also bought with money, all my money!” Li Junchi sighed dramatically, lamenting with every word.

“If he ran faster than you, then what kind of awakening could it be?” Ren Feiyu was curious about this because Li Junchi’s athletic ability had already improved, but from his description, he hadn’t even had a chance to chase after the thief; the person vanished in the blink of an eye.

“A cheetah,” Li Junchi thought without hesitation. “It must be a cheetah, the fastest land animal!”

“Not necessarily on land,” Lin Wu pondered. “It could be something that glides like Dayu^[4]this Ren Feiyu but they changed “Feiyu” to “Dayu” since adding “Da” in a name is like an elder or a senior, or even a bird.”

“Couldn’t be,” Li Junchi recalled seriously. “Although he was fast, I’m sure he didn’t fly; both feet were on the ground.”

“Not all awakened birds can fly,” Lin Wu explained. “Currently, the confirmed bird awakeners in several countries haven’t really flown, but their bodies have become agile, making them as light and swift as birds in flight.”

Xia Yang: “If it really was a bird, it could be much faster than a cheetah. The cheetah’s top speed is only 115 kilometers per hour.”

Ren Feiyu: “That’s not right. I saw a study that said 115 is an overestimate; it’s only about 90 kilometers per hour.”

Li Junchi: “It doesn’t matter; when a bird picks up speed, it leaves the cheetah in the dust. The fastest bird in the world… uh, what’s it called again?”

Xia Yang and Ren Feiyu: “The common swift.”

Li Junchi: “Right, its top speed can reach 352.5 kilometers per hour…”

Lin Wu quietly watched his roommates, who used to wail about homework, now enthusiastically discussing things. He felt a sense of relief at this uplifting learning atmosphere, as if he could see a bright light slowly illuminating the surroundings, a light that comes from the right path.

During the night time outing, Yuan Sixue ran into someone he knew and rushed over to chat, leaving Lin Wu and Wang Ye staring at each other.

Uh, this description isn’t accurate; Wang Ye was playing his game while Lin Wu was in a daze.

After a long while, Wang Ye finally noticed that it was particularly quiet today, lacking the usual “You’re not playing that right,” “The culprit is XX,” “Hurry and switch the fishing rod…”

Having become accustomed to the “bullet comments,” the sudden absence of them felt a bit strange.

“What’s up?” After finishing a round, he looked up.

“A brother from the dorm had his phone stolen outside today,” Lin Wu said.

Wang Ye asked, “Where is he?”

Lin Wu replied, “He’s fine.”

Wang Ye shrugged, “Then that’s okay.”

Lin Wu nodded, “Yeah.”

A few minutes later, after another round, Wang Ye raised his head again, frowning at Lin Wu.

‘If everything is fine, then why does he look so down?’

—

Lin Wu hesitated for a moment, then said, “I feel like something big is going to happen.”

Wang Ye asked, “Feel like?”

Lin Wu replied, “On the surface, the school has lifted restrictions, but don’t you think it’s getting tighter inside?”

Wang Ye raised an eyebrow. “?”

Okay, he shouldn’t have asked this guy. Lin Wu was troubled on his own, staring into the night sky: “Anyway, I feel like it’s the calm before the storm right now.”

A month later, Lin Wu’s premonition came true.

Well, it only came true halfway—something big indeed happened, but it wasn’t as bad as a storm.

In early November, the authorities issued an announcement to conduct “Awakening Animality” gene tests nationwide. Thus, China became the first country in the world to implement a wild awakening census.

Shortly after the announcement, the school had specific arrangements—

**[Environmental College Group]**

**Teacher Li**:“[Notice] The school will conduct health checks on November 17 and 18. The Environmental College’s check will be on the morning of the 17th from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Please be prepared.”

The author has something to say: “Miss Squirrel’s Tea Party” and “Detective Mr. Deer’s Reasoning Theater” only exist in Wang Ye’s mysterious app store=w=

The national health check is coming!